Porsche is preparing to adapt its next generation 718 Boxster and Cayman platform to accept petrol engines, in an abrupt reversal on plans for the models to go EV only. Senior engineering sources at Porsche's Weissach research centre have confirmed that the company is actively adapting the upcoming PPE Sport platform, designed for electric sports cars, to support a mid mounted internal combustion engine. Production of the fourth generation petrol cars ended in October. The electric replacements, originally scheduled for 2026, have been pushed to 2027. And now those electric cars will share showroom space with combustion siblings that weren't supposed to exist.
The scale of this reversal is difficult to overstate. The PPE Sport platform uses a stressed, load bearing battery pack as a core structural element. Remove that battery and the car loses much of its rigidity. The proposed solution involves developing a new structural floor section that bolts into existing hard points, restoring stiffness lost by removing the battery, with a redesigned rear bulkhead and subframe to support the engine and transmission. The electric structure provides no central tunnel, nor provision for a fuel tank, fuel lines or exhaust system. Engineers are effectively rebuilding the entire rear of the car around an architecture that was conceived without any of this in mind.
Porsche had already committed to keeping high performance RS and GT4 RS versions of the current 718 alive as part of a strategic realignment that took a £6.65 billion financial hit. That decision preserved the flat six in limited production while the electric cars arrived. What changed is the realization that the electric Boxster and Cayman risked becoming a niche. EV demand across the industry has softened. Chinese manufacturers are flooding the market with cheaper alternatives. And premium sports car buyers, the people who actually want a two seat mid engined Porsche, have shown less enthusiasm for batteries than Zuffenhausen anticipated.
Regulation helped create the opening. Porsche had previously determined that its naturally aspirated 4.0 litre flat six would not survive under the EU's original Euro 7 emissions proposal, which required oversized particulate filters and after treatment hardware. But the diluted final regulation, together with the EU's post 2035 e fuel exemption, now makes a business case for new petrol powered sports cars viable. The 4.0 litre unit, which debuted in the 718 in 2020 and produces up to 493 horsepower in GT4 RS specification, becomes the leading candidate for the revived models.
Internally, Porsche has set a tough benchmark: any fifth generation petrol 718 must match the dynamic performance of its electric sibling. That means replicating the ultra low center of gravity and rigidity of a skateboard EV platform using traditional engineering. Expensive, complex, and essential if the badge is going to mean anything. These new PPE Sport based 718s are different from the top 718 variants that Porsche said were in the works during September's strategic realignment and are expected to be used as a stopgap until the upcoming fifth generation models arrive towards the end of the decade.
The electric 718 delay stems from battery supply problems following Northvolt's bankruptcy filing in November. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume acknowledged that with the electric model series in the 718 segment, the company cannot avoid the issue of the availability of high performance cells. The two seater format offers minimal space for batteries, requiring cells with exceptional energy density to deliver acceptable range and performance. Single sourcing from Northvolt left Porsche exposed when the supplier collapsed.
The broader pattern is clear. Porsche scaled back its EV targets this year. The electric Macan arrived alongside a continuing combustion version. The new Cayenne Electric will sit beside petrol models indefinitely. And now the 718, which was supposed to be the purest expression of Porsche's electric future, gets an engine again. This isn't hedging. It's a wholesale retreat from the EV only strategy Porsche was evangelizing three years ago.
Engineers stress this won't be a half measure. The petrol 718 will be a proper Porsche, not a compromised adaptation of an electric car. Whether that's achievable when reverse engineering a platform designed around a battery pack remains to be seen. What's certain is that buyers who want a lightweight, naturally aspirated, mid engined sports car from Stuttgart will get another chance. Assuming Porsche can actually make this work.